A&M alum Holland battling on two fronts

49ers assistant has been fighting cancer for past five years

Johnny Holland of Hempstead is prosperous proof that if a coach suggests a position switch, a potential shift is at least worth considering. Holland was one of seven quarterbacks on the Texas A&M roster in the summer of 1983, a lineup including another electric freshman in Kevin Murray of Dallas, before A&M coaches approached Holland with a decent proposal: redshirt that first season as a quarterback or see the field early as a defender.

“The move to defense excited me because I could be aggressive and hit,” Holland once recalled of the unexpected enticement from his new coaches.

None of the six other quarterbacks played in an NFL game. Holland did, as a playmaking linebacker for the Green Bay Packers over seven solid seasons.

“In a lot of ways, Green Bay reminded me of Texas A&M — a small-town, big-time football team with a lot of traditions,” Holland said.

Holland, a two-time All-American at A&M in the mid-1980s, played for the Packers from 1987-93 after he was a second-round draft selection of the storied franchised. As an assistant with the only NFL team he played for, Holland helped coach the Packers to a Super Bowl XXXI victory over the New England Patriots in January 1997.

Now Holland is back in the title game, this time as the San Francisco 49ers’ linebackers coach — and for the second time with San Francisco in the

Super Bowl. The 49ers (14-5) face the Kansas City Chiefs (14-6) on Feb. 11 in Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium. Along the way Holland, 58, continues in the fight of his life, as he was first diagnosed with cancer coming up on five years ago.

“It’s a difficult deal to go through, and it’s a shock probably for families when people hear that word, cancer,” Holland told reporters in San Francisco. “It’s one of those deals where if you hadn’t been through it, it’s hard to explain.”

One guy who’s kept up with Holland’s nearly five-year fight is Texans coach DeMeco Ryans, who played for Holland when the elder linebacker was an assistant with the Texans from 20062010 under then-coach Gary Kubiak, a fellow Aggie.

Ryans has referred to Holland as a “father figure” who tutored him in life at least as much as football. Holland was one of four defensive coaches Kubiak dismissed following a 6-10 finish in 2010.

Holland bounced around with the United Football League, the Raiders, the Canadian Football League and the Browns before Kyle Shanahan brought him onboard when the 49ers hired him in 2017.

Holland was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer, while in San Francisco. Multiple myeloma is not curable but is treatable, according to MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Holland has received treatment at the University of California-San Francisco for years. Symptoms early in multiple myeloma often aren’t detectable, according to WebMD, but as time goes on, symptoms include bone pain, fatigue, weight loss, an upset stomach and confusion, among others.

“When I was first diagnosed I had never heard of it,” Holland recently told NBC Bay Area.

One in five people diagnosed with multiple myeloma are Black men, as well.

“It was shocking to me that it was so prevalent in the Black community,” Holland said. “And probably what happens a lot of times in the African-American community is they don’t know they have the symptoms that go with multiple myeloma.”

That prompted Holland to offer some sage counsel.

“Go in and get checked so you can identify what you have, so you can get on top of the treatments early,” Holland said. “It prolongs your life.”

Holland applies the work ethic he learned working construction in Hempstead from his father, Jake Holland Jr., to his battle with cancer and coaching the 49ers. The youngest of eight children, Johnny worked construction as a youth in Waller County, and he says he carries those lessons with him today.

“My friends would all go to camps and on vacations and such during the summer, whereas I went to work for my dad,” Holland once said with a slight grin. “My brothers and I hated the summers. I started helping my dad out in about the third or fourth grade, picking up tools and loose lumber and things of that nature.

“My dad came from a blue-collar background where all he knew was work. And that meant working hard all day in the sun or the cold or the rain. … He taught me what work was all about.”

Holland’s consistent hard work helped lead A&M in 1985 to its first Southwest Conference title since 1967, including a 42-10 win over rival Texas to cap the ’85 regular season.

“When I first got to Texas A&M, Aggie fans still had the mentality that as long as we beat Texas, no matter what happened that year, it was a good season,” Holland said. “By the time our group left, people expected more. They wanted a winning season and for us to beat Texas. We liked that.”